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en-usCopyright 2015 AOL Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only.Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/http://massively.joystiq.com/2015/01/15/infestation-producer-the-war-z-was-a-terrible-choice-of-a-name/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Massively&ncid=rss_semi
http://massively.joystiq.com/2015/01/15/infestation-producer-the-war-z-was-a-terrible-choice-of-a-name/http://massively.joystiq.com/2015/01/15/infestation-producer-the-war-z-was-a-terrible-choice-of-a-name/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Massively#commentsInfestation Survivor Stories (previously known as The War Z) Executive Producer Sergey Titov has penned a post-mortem on Gamasutra about the game's launch in 2012, noting how inviting the comparison to DayZ worked against the project.

"That said, The War Z was a terrible choice of name, as it naturally invited comparisons between our game and DayZ," Titov admitted. "We made a big mistake in not listening to the vocal minority of our community who thought the name was terrible [...] Beyond not listening to the community, we were also very arrogant in our public communications. We should have taken more care to communicate how and why this was not a DayZ clone, citing specific differences in both design and conception. Instead of saying to ourselves 'Oh well, haters gonna hate!' we should have tried to understand where the hate was coming from and address it."

Another key mistake that Titov and his team made was engaging in an "arms race" to get The War Z to Steam before DayZ, which resulted in its being yanked from that platform due to misrepresentation of the existing game features. Even with these missteps, Titov said that Infestation sold 2.8 million copies, and of those, over half logged at least 50 hours of playing time apiece.

VG247Gamasutra
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b2pbuy-to-playcash-grabdayzfeaturedhammerpointhammerpoint-interactivehands-onhorrorinfestationinfestation-survivor-storiespost-mortemsandboxsergey-titovsteamSurvival-Horrorsurvival-sandboxthe-war-zwar-zwarzzombiezombie-mmoThu, 15 Jan 2015 16:00:00 -0500319|21130219http://massively.joystiq.com/2014/04/25/infestation-survivor-stories-claims-2-5-million-players-to-date/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Massively&ncid=rss_semi
http://massively.joystiq.com/2014/04/25/infestation-survivor-stories-claims-2-5-million-players-to-date/http://massively.joystiq.com/2014/04/25/infestation-survivor-stories-claims-2-5-million-players-to-date/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Massively#comments
A new state of the game post is up today for Infestation: Survivor Stories (formerly The War Z), and the team claims that the title has seen 2.5 million players pass through its doors, with "over 100,000 people" playing the game daily.

The team apologized for not getting its promised updates out on time and said that it's made "sweeping changes" to improve communications and be more accurate with releases. Part of these efforts included hiring CMs and pledging to an internal model of "complete transparency whenever possible."

The state of the game post went on to list some of the game's recent additions, including vehicles, Super Zombies, balance tweaks, and an overhaul of the Colorado map. The team also said that it has committed itself to work on Infestation without external funding.

State of the Game
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b2pbuy-to-playhammerpointhammerpoint-interactivehorrorinfestationinfestation-survivor-storiessandboxstate-of-the-gamethe-war-zwar-zwarzzombiezombie-mmoFri, 25 Apr 2014 17:00:00 -0400319|20875923http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/12/11/free-for-all-two-weeks-on-a-private-infestation-server/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Massively&ncid=rss_semi
http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/12/11/free-for-all-two-weeks-on-a-private-infestation-server/http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/12/11/free-for-all-two-weeks-on-a-private-infestation-server/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Massively#comments
I remember when I first laid eyes on Infestation: Survivor Stories. It was GDC Online in 2012, and I did an interview with Alex Josef, Hammperpoint's PR consultant We made a quick trip to the press room, where he popped out a large gaming laptop to show me the game. I was really impressed with how simple its premise was: You're dropped in the middle of the wilderness, there are zombies all around, and you can starve to death. It felt great, as well, sporting realistic lighting effects and systems to simulate hunger, thirst, and sound.

So much has happened since that first meeting. I am very, very aware of all of the drama concerning the developers -- the name changes, the patches, the community issues, and so on. I am not writing this to discuss that part of the story. My specific goal over the last couple of weeks was to see whether playing on a private, paid-for server would give me a different experience than Massively's Mike Foster's. During his time with the game at launch he was, to put it mildly, miserable.

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alex-josefbeau-hindmandevils-advocatef2pfeaturedffafree-for-allfree-to-playfreemiumftphammerpointhammerpoint-interactiveinfestationinfestation-survivor-storiesopinionpost-apocalypticthe-war-ztwitchvelvet-ropewar-zzombiezombiesWed, 11 Dec 2013 18:00:00 -0500319|20784884http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/07/22/hands-on-infestation-survivor-stories-aka-war-z-is-worse-tha/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Massively&ncid=rss_semi
http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/07/22/hands-on-infestation-survivor-stories-aka-war-z-is-worse-tha/http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/07/22/hands-on-infestation-survivor-stories-aka-war-z-is-worse-tha/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Massively#comments
If there's one thing we know about the games industry, it's that no success goes uncopied. World of Warcraft breaks a million subscribers, everyone starts building WoW-like MMOs. Minecraft showers its creator with enough money to buy his home country, voxel-based crafting games fall like rain. It's just how things go.

It should come as no surprise, then, that some studio somewhere would attempt to piggyback on the success of DayZ, Dean Hall's ridiculously popular mod for Arma II. The title, which drops players into a dangerous, zombie-filled open world and challenges them to survive, resonated so immensely with gamers that a clone wasn't so much probable as it was inevitable.

But Infestation: Survivor Stories, formerly known as The War Z, is more than just a clone of DayZ. It is a charmless, cynical, and craven rip-off packaged with one of the most sinister microtransaction models ever implemented into a game, and it's developed by a company that has on multiple occasions proven itself to be only shades away from a dedicated fraud factory.

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arma-iib2pbuy-to-playcash-grabdayzfeaturedhammerpointhammerpoint-interactivehands-onhorrorinfestationinfestation-survivor-storiessandboxsteamSurvival-Horrorsurvival-sandboxthe-war-ztrailertrailersvideovideoswar-zwarzzombiezombie-mmoMon, 22 Jul 2013 19:00:00 -0400319|20671966http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/06/19/the-war-z-now-known-as-infestation-survivor-stories/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Massively&ncid=rss_semi
http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/06/19/the-war-z-now-known-as-infestation-survivor-stories/http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/06/19/the-war-z-now-known-as-infestation-survivor-stories/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Massively#comments
Remember The War Z? Hammerpoint Interactive is hoping that you don't, at least when it comes to the game's checkered development and customer service history that includes being temporarily pulled from Steam and suffering a major security breach.

At any rate, the firm is looking for a fresh start and has changed the zombie MMO's name to Infestation: Survivor Stories. The War Z's original URL now automatically redirects users to a rebranded website.

The War Z devs are considering an interesting take on punishing exploiters. They've been tossing around the idea of allowing people who've been banned for in-game cheating to play on special "jail servers." These servers would be isolated from the game's general servers and would be populated entirely by cheaters. On these servers, cheats would not be interfered with -- that is, exploiters could keep on using their cheats.

This has the potential to help the dev team; being able to observe the cheats folks use and run "anticheat experiments" without worrying about banning innocent players would probably give the team a lot of valuable information. On the other hand, though, those cheaters are totally jerks and why should they keep getting to play, right?

So the dev team is putting the issue in the hands of the players by posting a survey to see whether the idea is even worth pursuing. You can read the full rationale on the official forums.

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cheatcheaterscheatingexploitexploitersexploitshammerpointhammerpoint-interactivesurveythe-war-zwar-zwarzSun, 14 Apr 2013 16:30:00 -0400319|20540306http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/04/02/hammerpoint-acknowledges-war-z-security-breach-emails-and-passw/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Massively&ncid=rss_semi
http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/04/02/hammerpoint-acknowledges-war-z-security-breach-emails-and-passw/http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/04/02/hammerpoint-acknowledges-war-z-security-breach-emails-and-passw/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Massively#commentsHammerpoint has officially responded to the security issues plaguing its War Z zombie shooter. The firm says that no payment information was accessed in the recent breach, but that email addresses and game and forum passwords have been compromised.

The data accessed included email addresses used to log in to the forum, forum passwords which we encrypt, email addresses used to log in to the game, encrypted game passwords, as well as in-game character names and the IP addresses from which players log in to the forum and to the game. If you posted other information to the forum it is likely that such data was accessed as well. We do not collect the names or addresses of our gamers so that information was not impacted unless you posted it on the forum. We are investigating whether additional information may have been obtained.

Hammerpoint says that it has "engaged outside experts and investigators" and is committing "substantial resources" to improving security. The company encourages The War Z users to change their passwords.

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hackershammerpointhammerpoint-interactivethe-war-zwar-zwar-z-compromisedwar-z-hackswarzTue, 02 Apr 2013 09:00:00 -0400319|20526589http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/02/27/the-war-z-returns-to-steam/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Massively&ncid=rss_semi
http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/02/27/the-war-z-returns-to-steam/http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/02/27/the-war-z-returns-to-steam/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Massively#commentsThe War Z is back. On Steam. Apparently Valve no longer considers publishing the title on its ubiquitous digital download service a "mistake," and as such Hammerpoint's much-maligned exercise in surviving the zombie apocalypse is now available for 15 bucks.

Valve says that it has "collaborated to address community feedback" with Hammerpoint. The company has issued a patch that updates existing customers, and the special refund offering for initial War Z Steam buyers has now concluded.

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buy-to-playhammerpointhammerpoint-interactivehorrorpost-apocalypticsteamthe-war-zvalvewar-zwar-z-steamwarzzombie-mmozombiesWed, 27 Feb 2013 13:00:00 -0500319|20481221http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/01/25/dayz-standalone-version-jacks-up-graphics-player-customization/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Massively&ncid=rss_semi
http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/01/25/dayz-standalone-version-jacks-up-graphics-player-customization/http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/01/25/dayz-standalone-version-jacks-up-graphics-player-customization/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Massively#comments
The race to a DayZ standalone version release is on, and creator Dean Hall is feeling excited and confident about the progress being made. Hall posted a list of improvements that the team is currently working on, from graphics to customization, and gave an update regarding the testing process.

DayZ standalone's graphics are clearly improved from the ARMA II-modded version, and Hall includes side-by-side comparison photos of a town to show just how big of a difference the new engine makes. He said that the team is working on vehicle, character, and weapon customizations, although players will find that the real avatar customization will come while engaging in the game proper.

One notable entry on Hall's list is the fact that the team is building the servers to be "MMO-like" so that hacking and cheating will be markedly more difficult. He also said that while external testers haven't been invited into the beta yet, this will happen once the full server/client architecture is completed.

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armaarma-iibetabeta-testingcustomizationday-zdayzdayz-sadayz-standalonedean-halldelaysdev-diarydisease-trackinggraphicshammerpointhammerpoint-interactiveinventory-managementitemredditsaserverserver-architecturestandalonestandalone-versiontestingupdateupdate-letterFri, 25 Jan 2013 17:00:00 -0500319|20439252http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/01/17/dayz-standalone-version-should-arrive-by-april/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Massively&ncid=rss_semi
http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/01/17/dayz-standalone-version-should-arrive-by-april/http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/01/17/dayz-standalone-version-should-arrive-by-april/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Massively#comments
What everyone seems to be clamoring for these days is a standalone version of DayZ, the hit zombie survival game by Dean Hall. The creator opened up to Reddit on the progress of the version and his feelings on being confused for the maker of The War Z.

Hall says that DayZ's standalone version should come out before April, although he allows for wiggle room if something comes up between now and then. The team is being cautious about pulling the trigger on testing, too: "Slowly we'll hand out the first keys and get a few servers running. Then we will reassess. It could go really well and we open up quickly, or it could go badly. Don't expect the tech test to be fun, or very pretty."

Past the release of the standalone version, Hall said that he has plans to create a new map that centers around a western city.

Hall also addressed his frustration at being confused with The War Z: "I am angry about The War Z. I'm very angry. I'm quite hurt personally because anyone can see how similar the words are, and while the average gamer knows the difference, individual people don't. I've had family members and close friends mistake the difference and confront me about what they believed was unethical behavior they thought I was making."

You may have noticed that it's no longer 2012. (If not: Hello and welcome to the world of tomorrow!) You may also have noticed that, despite all expectations to the contrary, a DayZ standalone game has not yet been released.

That's because, according to creator Dean Hall, the dev team "had the chance to go from making a game that was just the mod improved slightly, packaged simply, and sold -- to actually redeveloping the engine and making the game the way [the team] dreamed it could be." The new plan is for a closed test of 500-1000 participants to happen in the near future, after which the internal release date will be adjusted as the team feels necessary.

As the team has taken extra time to polish things up, a great deal has changed. Items have more complexity now -- picking up a shirt from a player who suffered from cholera may well get you infected, and shooting a player in the head in an attempt to get his night vision goggles may result in damage to the goggles themselves. The UI is being streamlined and simplified to be "straightforward and functional just like in Minecraft." Map redesign and refinement is being slowed down by the continued imprisonment of the team's lead architect.

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armaarma-iiday-zdayzdean-halldelaysdisease-trackinghammerpointhammerpoint-interactiveinventory-managementitemivan-buchtaMon, 07 Jan 2013 16:00:00 -0500319|20419710http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/01/04/the-war-z-hacked-then-hacked-again/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Massively&ncid=rss_semi
http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/01/04/the-war-z-hacked-then-hacked-again/http://massively.joystiq.com/2013/01/04/the-war-z-hacked-then-hacked-again/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Massively#comments
The beat continues for embattled zombie title The War Z. Last night, a Hammerpoint community rep posted on the game's forums regarding a series of ongoing hack attempts.

"First we were hit with an attack that would [reset] our DNS IP so that you could not connect," the company said. "This morning we are being hit, again, with a DDoS attack on our login server. We are implementing additional DDoS protection and hope to have this resolved asap. Unfortunately with these types of attacks it is very difficult to give a good time frame of when it will be resolved."

If you're still playing The War Z, there are further status updates to be found on the game's official forums.

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hackinghackshammerpointhammerpoint-interactivesandboxthe-war-zwar-zwar-z-ddoswar-z-hackedwar-z-hackszombie-mmozombiesFri, 04 Jan 2013 08:30:00 -0500319|20416886http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/27/the-war-z-executive-producer-blames-problems-on-the-games-succe/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Massively&ncid=rss_semi
http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/27/the-war-z-executive-producer-blames-problems-on-the-games-succe/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/27/the-war-z-executive-producer-blames-problems-on-the-games-succe/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Massively#commentsSergey Titov, executive producer for The War Z, sent out an email to the controversial MMO's playerbase today addressing the recent problems with the game and the public's opinion of the game.

Titov states that there are "hundreds of thousands of players" on the game's servers each day and blames the overwhelming early success of the game for its eventual negative impressions. "I was too focused on how great we are and how a small independent team got their first game to over 700,000 users in a two-month period," Titov says in the email.

Admitting that the team made many mistakes in communication and rushing the game out before the holidays, Sergey says that they'll soon be hiring additional community managers and moderators to properly respond to any problems that might arise in the future.

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f2pfree-to-playhammerpointsergey-titovthe-war-zwar-zzombie-mmozombiesThu, 27 Dec 2012 17:30:00 -0500319|20412322http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/26/the-war-zs-creator-disputes-trademark-suspension/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Massively&ncid=rss_semi
http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/26/the-war-zs-creator-disputes-trademark-suspension/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/26/the-war-zs-creator-disputes-trademark-suspension/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Massively#comments
A couple of days ago, Massively reported that The War Z looked as though the trademark for its name would be suspended by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, forcing the game to choose another title. The game's creator, Sergey Titov, is disputing the suspension, however.

Corresponding with Kotaku, Titov said that he had received no such notice and is investigating the situation. "I assume what you see is one of the preliminary applications since it said that it suspended because [the] other application exists," he said. "I've sent an email to our lawyer who filed [the] application and [is] working with us to to provide more details on all this."

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buy-to-playhammerpointhammerpoint-interactivehorrorsergey-titovthe-war-zwar-zwar-z-trademark-suspendedwarzworld-war-zzombie-mmozombiesWed, 26 Dec 2012 15:00:00 -0500319|20411467http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/24/the-war-zs-trademark-suspended-name-change-likely/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Massively&ncid=rss_semi
http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/24/the-war-zs-trademark-suspended-name-change-likely/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/24/the-war-zs-trademark-suspended-name-change-likely/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Massively#comments
The team at Hammerpoint Interactive isn't having the merriest Christmas, at least if their holiday happiness hinges on the development of embattled zombie MMO The War Z. The troubled game will likely be forced to change its name due to a trademark suspension handed down by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The organization says that the game's name is too similar to Paramount Pictures' World War Z, a Brad Pitt film slated for a 2013 release.

The decision comes on the heels of The War Z being pulled from Steam, as well as a bevy of fraud accusations from the game's disgruntled userbase.

The gaming community has had itself in a frenzy as of late thanks to the drama-ridden debacle of The War Z's "launch" on Steam. In case you haven'tbeenfollowing this particularly juicy little chain of events, here's the story so far: The War Z launched on steam (still in beta, though not marked as such) with a number of features listed on the store page that, surprise, weren't actually in the game. The interwebs went into full torch-and-pitchfork mode, and after an "apology" from the game's developer wherein the studio apologized "to all players who misread information about game features," the game has been yoinked from Steam for the time being.

But what does Dean Hall, creator of the similarly named ARMA II: Combined Ops mod DayZ, have to say about all of this? Not much, apparently, but in a post on the DayZ subreddit, he revealed that he has "been pretty depressed about the whole situation." He also confides that the entire debacle caused him to "seriously consider" whether he wanted to be involved in the game industry at all. Thankfully for the many DayZ fans, he hasn't thrown in the towel and development on DayZ continues. Whether this is the end of the whole TheWar Z debacle or just the beginning, however, remains to be seen.

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day-zdayzdean-hallhammerpointhammerpoint-interactivethe-war-zwar-zzombiegateThu, 20 Dec 2012 16:00:00 -0500319|20408584http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/19/the-war-z-yanked-from-steam-valve-apologizes/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Massively&ncid=rss_semi
http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/19/the-war-z-yanked-from-steam-valve-apologizes/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/19/the-war-z-yanked-from-steam-valve-apologizes/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Massively#comments
The brief and baffling run of The War Z on Steam is over... for now. Valve called the release of the title on its digital distribution platform a "mistake" and "premature" and has since removed it. "We apologize for this," the company said, "and have temporary removed the sale offering of the title until we have time to work with the developer and have confidence in a new build."

The furor over The War Z'slaunch on Steam centered around its status as an early beta build and a list of misleading features on the Steam page that were either partially implemented or absent from the game altogether.

Hammerpoint also issued a short statement saying, "We're making sure that our Store page is 100% correct. Bottom line: Our end goal is to have satisfied and not angry customers, so this is more important for us than everything else."

Steam said that players who purchased it may choose to continue to play it or can get a refund.

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absent-featuresapologybetacontroversyfeaturesfraudfraud-accusationshammerpointlaunchreleasesteamthe-war-zvalvewar-zWed, 19 Dec 2012 16:00:00 -0500319|20407572http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/18/the-war-z-launches-into-a-flurry-of-fraud-accusations/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Massively&ncid=rss_semi
http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/18/the-war-z-launches-into-a-flurry-of-fraud-accusations/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/18/the-war-z-launches-into-a-flurry-of-fraud-accusations/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Massively#comments
The release of The War Z on Steamearlier this week is causing quite a stir today in the MMO-verse. Some purchasers are accusing the game's developers of outright fraud, noting that the store page and the official site are claiming features that simply do not exist in the released version, such as the promise of large persistent worlds (the only map currently available is 75 square km compared to claims of 100-500 square km) and population viability (while the game's servers can supposedly host 100 people, players claim that they cannot host more than 50).

Some of the complaints are subjective -- whether or not the true challenge in the game comes from zombies or other players -- but even the game's defenders admit that the title is still arguably in beta. It's currently the top seller on Steam, which is good news for Hammerpoint, but it also means that whatever the developers do next will be subject to some rather harsh scrutiny.

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absent-featurescontroversyfeaturesfraudfraud-accusationsgajme-mechanicshammerpointlaunchreleasesteamthe-war-zwar-zTue, 18 Dec 2012 19:00:00 -0500319|20406737http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/18/the-war-z-launches-on-steam/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Massively&ncid=rss_semi
http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/18/the-war-z-launches-on-steam/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/18/the-war-z-launches-on-steam/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Massively#comments
While it might not be fully cooked, The War Zis now available on Steam for any and all to enjoy the delights of surviving in a zombie age. The title is currently on sale at 10% off for $13.49, with additional packages if you're looking to pick up some in-game currency.

If you previously purchased the title through The War Z's website, the developers said that there will be a method to link that game to your Steam account. The War Z's devs also promised that other key features will be added to the game shortly, including leaderboards and private server rentals.

You can watch the Steam launch trailer after the break for some rip-roaring zombie slaughter!

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buy-to-playf2pfree-to-playhammerpointhammerpoint-interactivehorrorlaunchreleasesteamthe-war-zwar-zwar-z-betawarzzombiezombie-mmozombiesTue, 18 Dec 2012 14:30:00 -0500319|20406475http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/04/the-war-z-is-officially-in-beta-world-map-increased-by-50-perce/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Massively&ncid=rss_semi
http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/04/the-war-z-is-officially-in-beta-world-map-increased-by-50-perce/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/12/04/the-war-z-is-officially-in-beta-world-map-increased-by-50-perce/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Massively#comments
Zombie MMO The War Z has officially shed its alpha tag. The buy-to-play horror shooter has purportedly cultivated a community of more than 500,000 players, according to its latest press release, and those players can now enjoy the full game map, new playable characters, and a host of additional features as the title transitions into beta.

Hammerpoint Interactive has opened up the final sections of its "Colorado" map, which has in turn increased the size of the game world by 50 percent. The firm has also added new clan support features (tags, chat, and visual markers) as well as new marketplace items.

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buy-to-playf2pfree-to-playhammerpointhammerpoint-interactivehorrorthe-war-zwar-zwar-z-betawarzzombiezombie-mmozombiesTue, 04 Dec 2012 11:30:00 -0500319|20393728http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/11/07/hammerpoint-delaying-the-war-z-clan-features-focusing-on-hacker/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Massively&ncid=rss_semi
http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/11/07/hammerpoint-delaying-the-war-z-clan-features-focusing-on-hacker/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/11/07/hammerpoint-delaying-the-war-z-clan-features-focusing-on-hacker/?utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Massively#commentsThe War Z is a hot topic in gaming circles these days, and Hammerpoint's zombie-centric sandbox is starting to see an increase in shady player activity as its user base grows. The dev team has acknowledged the need to devote time and resources to dealing with hackers, and as a result some of the title's feature development is temporarily going on the back burner.

"As I'm sure all of you are aware, there [have] been a lot of discussion lately surrounding the hackers," Hammerpoint wrote on its forums. "Over here we've been working round the clock on a solution -- however, that's meant we've had to push back clans a bit, so it's looking more like next week. We're also investigating a number of bugs, such as the ability to glitch onto roofs, and item duplication."

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f2pfree-to-playhackershackinghackshammerpointhammerpoint-interactivehorrorsandboxshooterthe-war-zwar-zwar-z-clanswar-z-hackingwarzzombiesWed, 07 Nov 2012 11:30:00 -0500319|20373035http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/10/12/gdc-online-2012-a-severed-hands-on-with-the-war-z/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Massively&ncid=rss_semi
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Everyone loves zombies. We all enjoy shooting them to bits, pummeling them with a hammer, and watching them die... again. But I'd been feeling a bit tired of the zombie genre, even though some of my favorite titles are heavy on the zombs. Then I sat down and played through a bit of The War Z, a new post-apocalyptic horror shooter MMO that tosses players on servers up to 60 miles square and holding up to 250 players. Those zones are chock-full of zombies, so players who care to risk it all can hope to survive as they run, gun, and generally get their wits scared out of them.

I wasn't alone during my short time in the game, thanks to Alex Josef, Director of Communications for Hammerpoint Interactive We sat down for an interview and wound up smashing zombie heads with a flashlight. Ah, the perils of writing about games! Join me past the cut to read what I thought.

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alex-josefaustinbeau-hindmanconconferenceconventionfeaturedgalleriesgallerygame-developers-conferencegame-developers-conference-2012gdcgdc-2012gdc-onlinegdc-online-2012gdcogdco-2012hammerpointhammerpoint-interactivemmofpspost-apocalypticSandboxscreenshotscreenshotsthe-war-ztrailertrailersvideovideoswarzzombiesFri, 12 Oct 2012 18:00:00 -0400319|20348530http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/10/04/war-z-closed-beta-launches-on-halloween/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Massively&ncid=rss_semi
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Players interested in checking out the new zombie apocalypse game The War Z will have the chance to participate in closed beta starting on October 31st by purchasing a special Survivor package for $19.49. If that's too long a wait, Hammerpoint Interactive has also announced that you can get into alpha on October 15th by purchasing the Pioneer package for $29.99. This bundle also includes in-game currency, a forum badge, and one month of Stronghold map server hosting.

Finally, there's the Legend package for $49.99, featuring October 15th access, $30 of currency, a forum badge, six months of server hosting, and three guest keys. Legend purchasers will also have their survivor names highlighted on leaderboards and in the game's chat

It also looks pretty cool, particularly the silenced M4, the barricading mechanics, and the glimpses of various items and UI functionality. Hammerpoint recently went on record with the fact that the game's cash shop items may be lost when other players loot your corpse. This, along with the The War Z's unforgiving survival-style gameplay, would seem to be the recipe for a niche title. We'll keep our eyes on it, though, and you can too via the video after the break.

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gameplay-videohammerpointhammerpoint-interactivethe-war-z-gameplay-videovideozombie-mmozombiesFri, 21 Sep 2012 16:00:00 -0400319|20330263http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/09/16/seven-minutes-of-the-war-z-gameplay-footage-released/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Massively&ncid=rss_semi
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What's new with zombie survival apocalyptic sandbox The War Z? That's hard to say since we haven't seen much of the game since its announcement. Any opportunity to get a further glance at its gameplay is a welcome one, though.

IGN delivers the goods in the form of seven minutes of video featuring sniping, stealth approaches, and general combat. You can also see plenty of The War Z's environments as well as occasional looks at the inventory and UI. The full clip is yours after the cut.